Abstract
Abstract. Hydrothermic features in Galicia (northwest Spain) have been used since ancient times for therapeutic purposes. A characterization of these thermal waters was carried out in order to understand their behaviour based on inorganic pattern and water-rock interaction mechanisms. In this way 15 thermal water samples were collected in the same hydrographical system. The selected thermal water samples were classified using principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) regression analysis in two groups according to their chemical composition: group I with the young water samples and group II with the samples with longest water-rock contact time. This classification agreed with the results obtained by the use of geothermometers and hydrogeochemical modelling, where the samples were classified into two categories according their residence time in the reservoir and their water-rock interaction.
Highlights
Galicia, in northwest Spain and with an area of 29 574 km2, is bordered by Portugal to the south, the Spanish regions of Castile and Leon and Asturias to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Bay of Biscay to the north
In this study 15 thermal water samples were collected in April 2008 (Table 1).Water samples were collected by immersing amber glass bottles at the points of emission
In this paper the chemistry of major and trace inorganic elements in 15 thermal waters discharging in the council of Carballino were presented and discussed
Summary
In northwest Spain and with an area of 29 574 km, is bordered by Portugal to the south, the Spanish regions of Castile and Leon and Asturias to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Bay of Biscay to the north. Galicia was affected by the hercynian orogeny and in this region, materials of Proterozoic and the Palaeozoic outcrops are affected by major faults. This Hesperian massif has emerged since the end of the Paleozoic and erosion has exposed important granite batholites. Galicia has vast thermal groundwater resources with therapeutic uses in its subsoil, as there are more than three hundred sources registered, of which twenty are used by spas (Direccion Xeral de Industria, Enerxıa e Minas, 2003; Regional Government of Galicia, 2011). The use of thermal waters in Galicia, for therapeutic means, dates back to Roman times. Ourense was designated by the Galician Regional Parliament as the Thermal Capital of Galicia due to their therapeutic hot springs, representing the second highest position in thermal water of the Iberian Peninsula
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